Love and Writing in Hinatasou
by Muser
Summary: While Keitaro is away, the cats shall play. Unbeknownst to the girls they are about to have an encounter with a famous writer, who could very well replace Keitaro.
1. Encounter

Disclaimer: I do not own Love hina, and anyone who doubts my honesty will taste my steel.

Author's note: This story takes place in the six month time frame when Keitaro studied abroad at america.

Hinata-sou, a perfectly normal Girl's Dorm.

Throughout the past couple of years this old building has been witness to many things, a happy "family" enjoying their meals, countless parties, drunkenness, nudity, a clumsy dimwit being propelled into the stratosphere...wait a minute. Maybe it's not so normal, but that's beside the point.

Our story begins on the steps of Hinata-sou, where a beautiful woman begins her studies. "It seems like forever since Keitaro left to study abroad, but it's only been three days. He had better be focusing on his studies." This beautiful woman is none other than Naru Narusegawa, an absolute vision of loveliness, she was currently dressed in a sweatshirt with capris and sandles, her long brown hair flowing elegantly and her dazzling hazel eyes sparkling in the morning light.

The person she speaks of, Keitaro, is none other than the only male ever to have stayed in Hinata-sou, but only because he is the manager. How did he become manager? That's another story.

Naru just stood there, visualizing Keitaro's short black hair, his dorky glasses, but then she remembered how much of a clumsy pervert he had been since he came to Hinata-sou and quickly shook it off. "I can't afford to be distracted by that pervert!" she yelled to herself as she opened her notes.

"By who now, Naru?" said a familiar person in a familiarly sly tone.

"Ki-Kitsune? What are you doing out here this early?" said Naru in a panic. Mitsune Konno is older than Naru by a couple of years, but her loveliness rivals Naru's. With her platinum blonde hair, foxlike eyes (hence the nickname "Kitsune") as well as her breasts, which are of course much bigger than Naru's. She is currently dressed in a tank top and a pair of short shorts.

"Don't avoid the question Naru. I don't want to have to tickle the answer out of you!" said Kitsune in her most sultry voice.

"I swear I don't know what you're talking about! No! Get back! I swear I'll scream!" Naru yelled as Kitsune began to reach for Naru. But it was too late, Kitsune got ahold of her sides. All that could be heard throughout the house was the sound of Naru laughing hysterically. "A-Alright! I was th-thinking about Keitaro, O-Okay! Now get off!" yelled Naru in between laughs. Kitsune just smiled. "Now way. This is too much fun. Hey! Let's see how big your boobs have gotten.

"Kyaaaaah! Damn you kitsune!" Naru said as she managed to wrestle Kitsune off of her. Kitsune snickered. "You can't stop thinking about him can you?" Naru's face turned beet red. "I-It's just difficult for me to study without having to help that dork out." Kitsune smiled slyly. "Our little Naru is finally in love. Maybe I could convince him to come back, perhaps by offering a service?" "Thwack!" Kitsune now had an imprint of Naru's calculus book on her face. "What the hell was that for?" Naru glared at her angrily. "This is a good opportunity for him! We're going to let him study in America, then he'll come back ASAP! But I refuse to make him worry abbout us!"

Kitsune looked past Naru with a puzzled look on her face. When Naru noticed this she turned around to see what she was staring at. Naru looked at the base of the stairs to see a young man had passed out on the steps.

"Holy crap! Go get some help Kitsune!" Naru yelled as she ran to the man's aid.

Kitsune was already two steps ahead of her, running to get the other girls.

Naru's first instinct was to check for a pulse. "Good. He's not dead." Next she checked his forehead. "He's burning up! Kitsune better hurry up with the help."

"Help has arrived Naru-Naru!" yelled the young foreign girl of Hinata-Sou. This girl is Kaolla Suu, a young blonde girl from the kingdom of Mol-Mol(Her tan skin kinda gives it away). Suu was in her school uniform, despite it being a saturday. "I have the cure!" Suu pulled a giant syringe from out of nowhere. "50 CC's of banana juice!" "Thwack!" "Owie! Why'd you do that Motoko?" Motoko is another resident of Hinata-Sou. She has been perfecting her sword skills since she was young (Keitaro of course, learned this the hard way). Despite this, she is a very attractive person. Her long, raven colored hair was pulled into a ponytail, she was currently wearing her training gi, sword in hand. Did I mention she was tall for seventeen years old?

"Because you were being dense. Now what's going on?" Naru began to drag the man up the stairs. "This guy passed out on our property, he needs to be tended to." A soft voice retorted. "B-but we don't know this person. What if he's an escaped convict?" This voice came from Shinobu, one of the youngest denizens of Hinata-Sou, as well as the cook. She was currently dressed in a blue blouse with a black skirt, not to mention her apron, Her royal blue hair comes down to below her ears, her blue eyes were currently tearing from worry over the situation.

"He needs help now. So help me get him inside." said Naru as she continued dragging the man up the stairs.

Within a couple of minutes the patient had been placed on a futon in the living room. "We should let him rest. I'll go get the quilt." said Kitsune, sounding strangely responsible.

Suu began poking the unconcious gentleman. "Do you think he tastes good?"

Motoko sweatdropped when she realized how dense Suu truly was. "Come away from him Suu, he needs rest."

When Suu heard this she licked the man once and then ran off to her room. Naru arrived with some aspirin and a glass of water. "We need to wake him up long enough to give him some medicine. Motoko I need you to go get Haruka." Motoko didn't argue with Naru, knowing that someone was in trouble.

"Awooooo! Will he be alright!" flustered Shinobu as she flailed her arms into the air.

Naru pushed on the mans shoulder in an attempt to arouse him from his feverish slumber. As the man opened his eyes Naru couldn't help but blush. The first thing she noticed were his magnificent blue eyes, shimmering like the ocean. Then her gaze was fixated on his smooth black hair which was spiky, but not too spiky. As he stood up on the futon, he turned his head to Naru's direction.

"Wh-where am I? Is this a hospital?" he said placing his hand on his feverish head. Naru quickly cleared the blushing away. "You're in Hinata-sou. We found you passed out on our steps." The man blinked a couple of times to adjust to the light. "You mean the girls dorm? Oh man what time is it?" he said as he looked at his watch. Panic spread across his face. "Holy crap! I'm late, I can't be late!" he yelled as he ran to the door. But his sickness caught up to him, causing him to facefall to the floor.

Naru raced to his side. "You can't overexert yourself. You'll just make your fever worse." The man refused to clam down. "But you don't understand! You see, my name is..." he was interrupted midsentence by Kitsune. "Hey Naru, this is the only quilt I could find. So hows...holy crap!" Naru stood up quickly. "What's wrong?" Kitsune began to get hysterical. "Ohmigod! You're that young writer! What's his name? Oh yeah! Ryusei Tanaka!"

Naru was absolutely dumbfounded.


	2. Decisions

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina, these girls are not my creation. Darn you Ken! Why can't I be as good as you?

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"No way! Ryusei Tanaka is in my house! I could die right now!" screamed Kitsune in her most girlish tone. Naru was still confused. "First of all, this isn't your house! Second of all, who is this guy!" Before kitsune could answer Shinobu had ran right past her with a book and a pen in hand. "Ex-excuse me. Could I have your autograph Tanaka-san?" Shinobu could barely keep from blushing.

"Could someone answer my question?" yelled Naru as she tried to pry the girls attention from their patient.

Motoko had returned with Haruka as Naru began to freak out. "No way! It couldn't possibly be!" motoko yelled as she flipped through a book she had in her pocket. Sure enough she found the author's picture in the back of the book. "You are him! Ohmigod!" flustered Motoko in a manner unbefitting her nature.

Haruka snatched the book from Motoko to see what the fuss was.

"So you're him? The man who wrote this book?" asked Haruka.

Ryusei could only nod his head. Haruka seemed to be lost in thought, up until Suu busted in with her Mecha-Tama somethin' or other. "Stand back! I'll destroy that evil cold of his!" Suu said as she prepped the cannon. "Fire one! Huh? I said fire dangit!" Suu inspected the problem and saw that a watermelon had been lodged into the cannon.

"Ara, where did my melon go?" said Mutsumi in her usual "space cadet" fashion. Mutsumi is quite kind, though she can be ditzy. But her looks make up for that, Her black hair tied into a single braid, and her striking brown eyes. Mutsumi at the moment was wearing a green blouse with a yellow skirt.

"Suu you dummy. You could have hurt someone." Naru said in a calm voice (Mostly because she couldn't stand to yell anymore). "Now who wants to tell me who this is?" Kitsune stepped forward.

"His name is Ryusei Tanaka. He is a famous writer, mostly because he's only twenty years old. He currently has five award winning books under his belt, "Final Hour", "Saint Magnus", "A Sword for a Housewife", "God of the Stars" and not to mention "Romance under the Sakura"." Kitsune was just about to start the waterworks. "His stories are fantastic! And he's in my house!"

"Not your house dammit!" naru erupted.

Haruka placed her hand on Naru's shoulder. "Down girl. Now Ryusei wasn't it? What were you doing on our property?" Ryusei sat back up. "Where do I begin? I had been touring Hinata Onsen for a couple of days when my hotel kicked me out for causing a scene. Needless to say, I had been drinking. I decided to walk around and try to find another hotel. That's when I saw you building. I had assumed it was a hotel due to it's size, but when I reached the steps I just passed out."

Haruka nodded for a little while. "So you have no place to say?"

Naru was the first to respond. "Don't you say it Haruka! We don't know him!"

Haruka smiled. "Why not stay here for a little bit." Naru tried to argue, but the others beat her. "It would be nice to have a celebrity in the dorm, even for just a couple of days." said Kitsune. Motoko merely nodded in agreement. "I thought he tasted good!" Suu said with her mouth watering. "Shinobu and Mutsumi ran up to Ryusei. "Could you stay? Pleeeeeeease!"

Ryusei looked around at everyone. "If it's alright with you." The girls flocked to his side in order to get acquainted with their temporary houseguest. "Hello there handsome. My name is Mitsune, but you can call me Kitsune." Shinobu was next for introduction. "My name is Shinobu. It's a pleasure to meet you." Motoko stepped forward next "I am Motoko Aoyama." is all she said. Suu ran up and glomped Ryusei. "I'm Suu. It's nice to meet you." Naru pulled the young girl off of Ryusei's face. "Sorry about that. My name is Naru, I hope you get to feeling better." Mutsumi pulled up alongside him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Ara, my name is Mutsumi. Do you like watermelon?" Ryusei's face was beet red.

"Alright girls give him some room." Haruka said as she pulled the girls away.

"Hold on now! This is a girls dorm, not a hotel! He can't stay here!" Naru argued. Haruka gave her a hard look. "We let Keitaro stay here." Naru shut herself up.

"Now just how long are you staying in Hinata Onsen?" she asked.

Ryusei regained his composure. "About six or seven months." He looked around to see that everyone had sweatdropped. "No way! Even if he is a celebrity, he can't stay here that long!" Naru yelled. The others agreed once they realized how long his stay would be.

Haruka knelt down to his eye level. "You're not a pervert are you?" Ryusei was offended, but instead of getting angry he merely said "No". "Do you mind doing some chores while you're here?" "Not at all." Ryusei responded. "Well then it's settled. Welcome to Hinata-sou." When the girls heard this they were struck with mixed emotions. Except for Naru.

"What are you thinking! Keitaro is the only man I'll allow to stay here! Do you understand?" Naru yelled. The other girls just snickered, with the exception of Motoko. "You do love Keitaro, don't you?" Kitsune said as she walked up to Naru. "Wh-what are you talking about? I could care less about that dork." Naru retorted. Kitsune continued her advance as Naru began to back away. "Admit it Naru, or do we need to continue our little tickle session?" Naru formed a crucifix with her fingers. "Why are you bringing Keitaro up anyway? We need to deal with that squatter over there." Kitsune lunged forward, stopping short of Naru. "Keitaro would help someone in need." Kitsune said with a sad look on her face. Naru realized that Kitsune had a point. "Alright he can stay." Naru said in a defeated tone.

"Yaaaaaaay! Did you hear that Tanaka-san?" said Shinobu as happily as could be. Everyone turned in Ryusei's direction and there he was, sound asleep.

Everyone sweatdropped again.

"So what room does he stay in?" asked Motoko. Kitsune began to open her mouth, but Naru placed her hand over it. "He can stay in Keitaro's room, but if he get's me angry may God have mercy on his soul.

It was agreed that Ryusei would stay at Hinata-sou, but just what awaits him over the next couple of months?

END CHAPTER 2

Authors note: I can't wait to highlight the mad-cap antics that are bound to happen, expect plenty of story arcs. Please review.


	3. Welcomes

Disclaimer: Despite the fact that I have vivid dreams about the girls doesn't mean I own the series. Love Hina is Ken's love-child.

Legend:-----scene change

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Ryusei had been passed out the entire night, due to his fever. When he finally awoke, his eyes needed a moment to adjust. As soon as his eyes regained function he tried to take in his surroundings in order to find out just where he was. "I guess they'll let me stay." He continued to look about his temporary domicile trying to get the feel of it. "This place isn't half bad. I could get used to this." Just then he noticed the clothes he had been wearing next to his futon, smelling like they had just gone through the wash.

"Awwwwww. They shouldn't have." Ryusei said as he dressed himself for the day ahead. Just then his nose caught wind of something delicious, a smell that brought him to his knees in hunger. "I'd better get something to eat before I pass out again.

As Ryusei made his way downstairs he didn't run into any of the girls, which of course caused him to question yesterdays events. "Did it really happen? Is this a girls dorm? Someone has to be here, I can smell food."

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Upon his entrance to the dining room he saw that the girls were already sitting at the table, stuffing their faces with the most delicious food Ryusei had ever seen. From his mouth came a river of saliva flowing like a great waterfall. "About time you got up. You better dig in before it gets cold." said Kitsune, her mouth full of rice. "Yeah! Shinobu's cooking is the best ever!" Suu said with her mouth full of more rice than Kitsune. Ryusei couldn't keep from smirking. "Alright. If you insist."Motoko decided strike up a conversation. "You certainly have an odd style of storytelling, Tanaka." Motoko said in her most serious tone. "Your characters in "A Sword for a Housewife" seem to like making fun of each other more than swordplay. Don't you think that a story about swordsmen should stick mostly to action?" Motoko said as she poured herself a glass of tea. Ryusei pondered this for a moment. "Well, the point of that story is that swordsmanship isn't for everyone. Although, I do see where you might have a point. Thank's lovely."

Ryusei drew himself away from his thoughts in order to pour some tea for himslef, but instead nearly lost his fingers to Motoko's blade. "What did you call me? Do you know who you are messing with?" Motoko said in a demonic tone.

Ryusei looked around to see if anyone could possibly save him from his demise. Unfortunately, the other girls had already formed a "Motoko Cheer Group", everyone except for Motoko and Mutsumi who decided to go do some dishes while this took place.

"I-I didn't intend to embarass you." He quickly dropped to his knees and began pleading "Please don't kill me!" over and over again.

When Motoko saw this, she merely sheathed her sword and sat back down. "You are not worth my time, pathetic worm." Naru decided to start a different subject before someone else went "Ape Scat". "So Ryusei, where didi you leave your luggage?" Naru said in a pleasant tone. "It was lost in the fire." Ryusei said as he took a sip of tea. Everyone but Su had sweatdropped. "Did I forget to mention? The scene I made was actually an electrical fire, I lost everything." Naru stood up and brushed off her legs. "So you'll be needing new clothes, right?" Ryusei nodded, not knowing what to make of her question. "Then I'll just have to take you to town. So let's get going." Naru said as she dragged him to the door. "But, that delicious food!" Ryusei said sobbing.

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Naru and Ryusei had made it to town just in time for the shops to open (Ryusei payed for trolley fare). "So little Shinobu made that scrumptious meal?" Ryusei asked. "As a matter of fact, she did. Shinobu does the cooking and laundry around Hinata-sou." Ryusei had a look of amazement on his face. "Wait, what about that Motoko person. What's her deal?" Naru placed her index finger on his forehead. "She doesn't like men too much. I would advise you put a lid on your charms around her, unless you wish to lose what makes you a man." Ryusei laughed nervously in order to shake off his bone-chilling fear.

Naru stopped him at a little clothes-shop on the corner. "Well, here we are. We should be able to get you something here.

By the time they finished shopping, Ryusei had bundles of clothes in his hands. Naru was already ahead of him by a couple of yards. "Come on, keep up will you." Ryusei sweatdropped. "You know, half of this stuff is yours. And why did we have to use my credit card?" Naru stuck her tongue out at him. "Because your a rich author, and I'm a cute girl. Do you know how many guys would love to carry my stuff for me?"

Ryusei stopped for a moment. "Hey. What's that building over their?" Naru looked to see what he was talking about. Naru just stood there with a happy look on her face. "Hello! Are you awake?" Naru snapped out of her daze. "Sorry. That is Toudai, the school I'm studying for. Keitaro and I have been shooting for that school ever since we were little." Ryusei looked at the magnificent building, with it's beautiful trees and its lovely campus. He diverted his gaze to Naru, Her hair flowing in the wind reminding him of a character from one of his stories. Naru noticed his gaze and blushed. After she shook off her embarassment, she took him by the arm and led him to the trolley.

"It's getting late, I hope they're ready." Naru said to herself. "Ready for what?" asked Ryusei. Naru shook her head and laughed nervously. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

The rest of the trolley ride was spent in akward silence.

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By the time the two got back to Hinata-sou it was already nightime.

"I guess everybody has gone to bed by now." observed Ryusei as he noticed that all the lights were out.

Ryusei felt like his arms were about to give out from carrying all that clothing to the house. "I'll feel much better once I get some sleep." Naru made her way inside first. "Hey Naru! Couldn't you have at least turned the lights on?" Right on cue the lights came on. "Surprise! Welcome to Hinata-sou!" yelled all the girls. "You guys didn't have to do this for me." Ryusei said as he was showered with confetti.

"Nonsense. We want our new tenant to feel at home. Now come on, let's get drinkin'" said Kitsune. Ryusei just laughed and went along with it. As the party got into full swing, Ryusei's gaze went to Naru for just a moment. "She sure is cute." he said to himself. "I'm glad you think that way about me." said Kitsune in a seductive voice. Ryusei couldn't help but feel that she was already drunk. "Would you mind pouring the sake, Ryu-kun." "Yep, she's drunk." Ryusei thought to himself.

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By the end of the party, Ryusei had outdrunk Kitsune by two whole bottles of Sake. Motoko had already gone up to her room, as well as Naru. Mutsumi had passed out a couple of times during the party, but she was just asleep now. Su and Shinobu had fallen asleep in the middle of the floor. As Ryusei opened the door to his room, he noticed that his clothes had been placed into his closet. "Naru." he mumbled. Ryusei had way too much sake, and he knew he would pay for it in the morning. As he lay his head down on the futon, he noticed a hole in the ceiling. "Whazzat. Ah, I'll investimigate it tommorow." Ryusei said drunkenly.

And all throughout Hinata-sou, all was silent.

End Chapter 3

Author's note: Please review. If I don't get reviews, I'll die!


	4. His first real day

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina. This story is merely a fantasy that got blown way out of proportion. You have been warned.

Authors note: I don't intend to get any premature flaming by the Naru+Keitaro fans, just know that I haven't decided who will end up with who. You can of course expect some internal conflict from whoever it is though.

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The next morning, Ryusei awoke to a splitting headache. As he reached for his aspirin he mumbled something about "bad sake". Upon staring up at the ceiling again, he noticed the hole again. "Huh. I wonder why nobody's fixed that yet. I guess it would be generous of me to do some repairs around the building." Ryusei then headed for the closet, his head still throbbing. "Let's see now. How about this?" Ryusei had pulled out a pair of cargo pants and a grey t-shirt which read "Sex Goddess" across the front. "Hey, this looks great on me." Ryusei said looking into the mirror. Just then his face went pale as he remembered something very important.

"Nooooooooo! Now I'm really late! What am I going to do?" Ryusei yelled frantically as he searched acroos the room looking for his shoes.

"Just what are you doing? It's too early for this crap." said a familiar voice. Ryusei looked around to see where it was coming from. "Up here moron." said Naru, her head poking out of the hole in the ceiling. "I have to go! I'm late for a meeting, two days late!" Ryusei said as he looked deeper into the closet. "Then what's the point? Whoever you were gonna meet would have left long before now." Ryusei realized this and calmed down.

"What's this meeting about anyway?" Naru asked quizically. "It concerns my new contract with "Kokusho Publishing", they wanted to meet with me and talk about hiring me. But now it's too late now, I'll never find a company willing to have me." Ryusei said with a distressed look on his face. Naru seemed confused by this. "But if what the others say is true, then you should have no problem getting a new publisher." Ryusei plopped down onto his futon. "It's not that simple. I can't just go to anyone. It has to be Kokusho Publishing."

Naru had already made her way through the hole in order to get in a better conversation.

"Why does it have to be one or nothing? Why can't you just go to another company." Ryusei sat up and looked at his feet. "Because I made a promise. That I would become a famous author and work at the world's greatest publishing company. I can't break this promise, not now, not ever. If I did then I could never look her in the eyes again." Naru could barely keep from crying. Here she was with another person who knew just how hard it is to keep a promise to someone you care about. She remembered how she and Keitaro would study all night just to get into Toudai. She remembered how nervous they were that something would go wrong, that they might fail, but when they finally saw their names on the Toudai acceptance boards they knew that all their prayers had been answered.

"Naru? Are you alright?" Ryusei asked in a concerned tone. Naru merely grabbed him by the shoulders and smiled. "Don't you worry. You will keep your promise, I guarantee it." Ryusei returned her smile. "You're right! I have to keep this promise! Thank you Naru, thank you, thank you!" Naru didn't expect this much enthusiasm. "Hey, let's go join the others for breakfast."

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"Soooooooo. What does everybody think of our guest?" asked Mutsumi.

"I think he's just a little too comforterable around us." said Motoko as she served herself.

Shinobu blushed upon the mention of Ryusei. "Shinoooobuuuuu. Do you like Ryusei?" asked Mutsumi as she fed Tama-chan a piece of celery (Tama-chan being a hot spring turtle, of course). "Wh-what are you talking about? I like Keitaro, I like him as my Sempai, I mean, Awooooo!" Shinobu said, shaking her head violently. Kitsune placed her arm around the frantic little girl before she had a coniption fit. "It's alright if you like him, I mean you are a big girl now. Just promise me you won't give it all up on the first date." "Kabong!" went Motoko's boken as it collided with Kitsune's head. "I don't see how you have this much energy after you drank so much last night."

"Yeah, but the noob drank more than I did." said Kitsune, who apparently didn't feel a thing.

"I think he would taste better with curry, but that's just me." said Su. The other girls sweatdropped, except for Mutsumi who just nodded in agreement. "What about you Mutsumi?" Su said as she leaned over the table to get ahold of the soy sauce. "Ara, I think I like him. He seems like a nice person, and quite the looker." She said as she took a sip of her tea. Kitsune just laughed. "Of course you'd say that. You like everyone." Motoko took this opportunity to change the subject. "Do you think it is a good idea to let him stay here? Even for a couple of months, that's just too long."

"What's too long?" asked a new voice.

Ryusei stood in the doorway with Naru. Su was the first to respond. "Motoko thought that you should lea..." "Kabong!" "What Su meant to say was that the school year seemed too long, right Su." Motoko said poking her in the ribs. "Yeah, there's too much school. Maybe I can invent an "Anti-School Missle" or something." Naru ruffled her hair. "You silly girl. You just need to be patient."

Ryusei took his place at the table and served himself the rice. As he began eating, he noticed Kitsune staring at him from across the table. "Is something wrong?" Kitsune pointed to his shirt. "You do know what that says, right?" He looked down at it. "Yeah. I like to wear stuff that draws attention, and what better way than to wear something like this." Kitsune laughed her ass off. "Hey, you're all right! So How about later you and I get together and see if I can live up to your title." "Thwack!" This time it was Naru's fist that met the target. "You waste no time, do you? And you, don't think I didn't see that look in your eyes! You had best be good too!"

Breakfast continued, despite two attempted bitings and a concusion.

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After breakfast, Haruka put Ryusei to work on the dorm. He scrubbed, mopped, swept, took a break for lunch, then went back to his chores. By the time he had finished it was almost 5:00. "Wow! Time flies when you're working your ass off." As he put his cleaning equipment up he noticed the entrance to the hot springs. "They have a hot springs? Should I? I have some time before dinner, I guess I could." he thought to himself.

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"Ahhhhhhhh. This is the life. I can feel my troubles just melting away." Ryusei quickly left his little dream world long enough to form his battle plan. "Alright, this is fun and all, but I have to figure a way to get into Kokusho. I guess I could give them a call and set up another appointment. Until then, I guess I can take it easy.

But no, he couldn't just take it easy. For at that moment a series of strange figures entered the hot springs. "Have you guys seen Ryusei? He seems to have just disappeared." said Naru. "Holy shit! This isn't good." Ryusei thought to himself. "What do I do now? I've got it!" Ryusei ducked underwater to avoid being seen.

"Why? Are you worried about him? Have you frgotten Keitaro already?" said Kitsune. Naru slapped her on the back of the head. "Don't start with me. I was just curious." "It does seem strange, I do not think he would have anywhere to be in Hinata Onsen." said Motoko as she removed her towel. "I've gotta get out of here. I can't afford to get caught." he said as he stealthily headed torwards the exit. "Hey Ryusei!" said Su in her normal hyper manner. "Busted." he thought to himself as he ran for the exit."

"Kyaaaaah! What's he doing in here?" shrieked Shinobu. "He's about to get his ass handed to him is what he's doing!" Naru yelled as she ran after him in her towel. "Motoko! I'll handle this one!"

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"CrapCrapCrapCrapCrap!" Ryusei yelled as he attempted to evade his pursuer. "Get back here, you pervert!" Ryusei kept running in the feeble hope that she might get struck by lightning, or something. But it was too late, Naru had him pinned on the roof. "Now you're gonna get it! I'll teach you to spy on us in the bath!" Naru yelled as she grabbed him by his shirt.

"I promise I didn't mean to! I just needed to take a bath! Please don't kill me, I promise it won't happen again! Please don't kill meeeeeeeeee!" Ryusei was prepared for the beating of a lifetime, but all he heard was the sound of laughter. Naru kept laughing for a full five minutes. "You know, you act just like Keitaro sometimes. He used to peep on us all the time. I guess I do miss him." Naru grabbed hold of his shirt again. "And if you tell anyone I said that, I will kill you!" Ryusei nodded his head. "Good, now tell me, do you have a high tolerance for pain?" Ryusei turned white with fear. With a single punch Naru sent him flying into a nearby tree. "Are you alright?" asked Naru. "Yeah, I'll be alright!" Naru sweatdropped. "Just like Keitaro. I knew it."

"Um...Naru? Could you get me down?"

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As punishment for peeping, Ryusei was sent to bed without supper. This turned out to be a problem for him.

"I'm starving!" Ryusei moaned. "I can't believe they'd deprive me of food. I think I'm gonna pass out." At that moment, a strange doll poked it's head out of the "Naru Hole". "Well then maybe you shouldn't have been peeping on the girls, you pervert." Ryusei sweatdropped. "Great, a lecture." Naru made her way through the hole in order to chew him out more effectively.

"Yes, a lecture. If you're going to keep this up the girls are going to get more and more violent. Do you understand how important it is that you behave yourself here?" Ryusei nodded his head. Naru thumped him on the head. "Ow! What the hell!" "You know, nodding your head instead of answering is a little rude. Now wait here." she said as she left his room. Within a couple of minutes , she returned with some riceballs. Ryusei thanked her and grabbed a ball "These look pretty funny." Naru took the riceball from him. "You don't have to eat it you know." "No no no, I'm sure it tastes delicious."

After the rice balls were finished Naru headed back up to her room, but not before warning him again. As Ryusei drifted off to sleep he could have sworn he saw a strange figure in the window, but he just shrugged it off. He merely assumed it was a tree.

Before he conked out he mumbled to himself."Starting tommorow, I have to begin operation "Get into Kokusho"."

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End Chapter 4

Author's note: Reviews are my lifeblood. Remember that. Also, I would like to congratulate my little sister for joining this site.


	5. I'll keep my promise

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina, I love this series, but it's not mine.

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The next morning was a normal one. Kitsune got a thrill out of Ryusei's "Lovely Angel" shirt, Motoko almost killed him, Mutsumi passed out a couple of times and everyone enjoyed a bountiful breakfast. Despite this, he knew that what he needed now was to finally get the account. After breakfast, Ryusei began his three part plan. Step one, arrange a meeting with the head of Kokusho Publishing. Step two, negotiate a contract. Step three, live happily ever after.

"I guess it's time to make the call. Now where's the phone? Ah. Here we go." After three rings, the receptionist answered the phone. "Kokusho Publishing, where dreams are printed, how may I help you?" "Yes, My name is Ryusei Tanaka. I'm calling to set up a meeting with the head of the company." "Oh, Mr. Tanaka, of course. Mr. Hitsuma was concerned when you didn't come to your last meeting. I'll see what I can do." Ryusei just knew he had a chance now. "Alright, just have him call back here. Good-bye now."

Ryusei began a series of happy dances. "I'm gonna get the account! Oh yeah!" This continued until he opened his eyes to see the girls trying to hold back their laughter.

"Guess what! They're gonna publish me! Isn't it great!" Su congratulated him with a dropkick to the face. "Ow! Is that really how you congratulate people!" Kitsune grabbed Su before she could do anymore harm. "I'll bet you're thrilled about this. So when do you start?" Ryusei scratched the back of his head. "Weeeeell. I haven't been confirmed about if I got the account yet." Everyone sweatdropped. "Well, we've got school to get to. Come on Su." Shinobu said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I have to get back to training. Naru, I'll need your help studying for Toudai later." Motoko said as she headed up the stairs.

"Wait, she's going for Toudai? Just like you?" Ryusei asked quizically. Naru gave him a slap on the back. "Of course she is. Toudai is a great school after all. Besides, if Keitaro could get in, so can she. Now be sure to do your chores today."

Ryusei just smirked and went to go get the broom.

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"Three hours. I did it all in three hours." Ryusei moaned. "These hot springs really are fantastic. They really take the edge off. It's a good thing Naru left for Toudai earlier, I don't feel like getting pounded again."

Ryusei lazed about the hot springs until his skin began to prune. After drying off though, he heard something that made his heart go bonkers. "Riiiiiing! Riiiiiing!" In a flash he darted out of the springs to get to the phone, but Kitsune beat him to it."

"Hinata-sou, how may I help you? Ryusei?" Kitsune noticed Ryusei just standing their, waiting to see if it was for him. "It's for you." Ryusei's eyes lit up. "Mr. Hitsuma? Yes I can. How about "The Mystic Seahorse" at 5:00? All you can eat seafood. Alright. Bye now." Kitsune just stood their waiting to know what happened. He wrapped his arms around her and started crying. "I got the interview! I'm gonna be in Kokusho Publishing!" Kitsune just forced a smile. "That's great, but could you loosen the death-grip?"

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Ryusei stood outside the restaurant, waiting for the man who would change his life forever. But when they didn't show up on time he began to worry. "Maybe he doesn't know where the place is. Who am I kidding! He's not going to come! I'm such a loser!" "I'm five minutes late and you fall to pieces. You remind me of myself at your age." Ryusei turned around and saw an old man with green eyes and white hair formed into an afro. "Mr. Himitsu! Ahem, It is an honor to finally meet you." Himitsu walked up and patted him on the shoulder to show him his friendly nature. "You really need to relax sonny. Now let's go enjoy some seafood." Ryusei took a deep breath an entered the restaurant with the head of his dream job, knowing that he had the charisma and skill to get through this.

Hopefully.

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"I hope he gets back soon, that sake is calling to me. I have to drink!" said Kitsune as she taped the last streamer to the banister. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be long. Besides, when he returns from his interview we need to be here to congratulate him." said Naru. "Besides, if we let you drink now there won't be any left!" Su charged in with a plate of bananas. "I hope he's hungry, I whipped up these curry bananas extra special." Motoko sweatdropped. "Honestly Su, sometimes not even I can predict what you will do next." Shinobu yawned quietly. "I'm getting kinda tired. Can we have the party tommorow?" Mutsumi grabbed her cheeks and forced her to smile. "Nonsense. Never put off what you can do today. Besides, it would be rude to waste precious daylight." "It's 9:00 at night!" This came from Naru.

At that moment, Ryusei walked into the house.

"Surprise! Congratulations Ryusei!" yelled everyone in unison. Ryusei didn't respond. Instead, he headed up the stairs to his room. "Hey! We're throwing you a party you jerk! Get back here!" Naru yelled. She ran up the stairs to find out what was wrong with him.

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"Hey! What's your deal! We throw you a party and you blow us off! Are you just too good for us now or something?" Naru yelled. Ryusei turned around, so that Naru could see the tears flowing from his eyes. "I broke my promise to her. They're not going to publish me." Naru stood there, not knowing what to say.

"I'm just going to go to bed. Tell everyone I'm sorry."

Naru grabbed him by the hand firmly. "You can at least come down and tell them yourself. We worked so hard to have a party for you by the time you got back. You need to think of their feelings." Ryusei broke the death grip on his hand. "Thanks for trying , but I just need to sleep."

As he entered his room, Naru couldn't help but feel sad. Sad that he had broken a promise to someone who he obviously cared for. Naru knew just how tough it was to keep her promise to get into Toudai. Even after she failed and became a first-year ronin, she knew she would succeed and that she would finally keep her promise, no matter what.

"Goodnight, Ryusei."

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"That no good bum! How can he do this to us? I worked sober for him!" Kitsune said semi-drunkenly. "Something bad must have happened. I hope he's alright." said Shinobu in a concerned tone. Motoko just stood there with Su hanging of off her, but she too wasn't pleased with Ryusei's attitude. "Maybe the curry bananas will help." Su proclaimed as she pulled a tray of them from out of nowhere. Mutsumi clasped her hands and looked up at the stairs. "Hey, here comes Naru. Maybe she could shed some light on the subject."

As Naru descended the stairs, the other girls knew that it was bad news.

"He didn't get in." Naru said depressingly. Kitsune shook her head viciously. "But he's one of the greatest authors I know, I love his work more than anything else. Those Kokusho people are just a bunch of old farts, they wouldn't know talent if it bit them on the ass!"

Haruka placed her hand on Kitsune's shoulder. "Calm down. I expected this to happen. You should have too." Everyone was surprised by Haruka's remark. "Kokusho Publishing doesn't have very many clients, that's because they only accept the best fo the best. Ryusei just wasn't ready." The girls lowered their eyes in despair. "Just let him rest, get things together. I promise you that he'll be back to himself in no time."

Haruka took one last drag of her cigarette before she left the girls to clean up.

End Chapter 5


	6. Motoko's date part one

Disclaimer: I would love to claim Love Hina as my work, but it's not. Ken made his money bed and now he must lie in it.

Author's note: Here comes the first story arc. I was hoping when I'd get to do one. Please review.

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For three days, three whole days, Ryusei holed himself up in his room. He refused to eat, to play, to do anything. This was starting to take it's toll on the girls, without a amle to balance things out, it got just too unbearable in Hinata-sou.It was decided that a meeting would be held, in order to come up with a plan to cheer him up. The meeting was held in the kitchen after breakfast.

"So what do we do? Three days of moping is enough." asked Naru.

"Whatever we do, it better be fast. I don't know how much more I can take." Kitsune said as she fiddled with a kitchen knife. "This is just like what happened to Sempai." Shinobu mumbled. Mutsumi walked in with a watermelon and a kotatsu. "We could give him these. They always cheer me up." None of the girls had the energy to sweatdrop. Su raised her hand high into the air. "Ooh, ooh! How about if one of us takes him on a date?" Kitsune ruffled her hair. "Attagirl! Why not take him out? It makes sense to me." Naru concurred. "But who do we get to go out with him?" Everyone stared at Motoko with a grin on their faces.

"No way! I refuse to go out with him!" Motoko yelled as she swung her boken in the air.

Kitsune grabbed Motoko's arms and held them behind her back. "Naru, would you do the honors?" Naru walked up to Motoko and cracked her fingers. "My pleasure." Motoko struggled to break free, but Motoko had a fantastic grip. "Nothing you can do will change my mind. My body is trained to undergo any kind of torture, so there." "Oh really? Is that so?" Naru asked as she prepped herself.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaah ha ha ha ha! Alright alright, I'll ha ha ha I'll do it!"

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Ryusei looked up at the ceiling, wondering if he was truly any good to begin with, if he was really meant to be a writer. He tried to figure out what went wrong in his life, why they wouldn't accept him, how he could ever keep his promise now.

"Maybe I should just pack up and go home. I'm just making things harder on the girls." he sighed.

Slowly, he got up and began to go through the closet, hoping that there would be a suitcase. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise." he said as he fought back tears. "Knock knock." the door slowly opened, revealing Motoko dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a pink tank-top with a blue butterfly on it. "Tanaka-san, could I ask you a favor?" Ryusei decided that he could at least make up for blowing off on the party. "Of course, what do you need?"

Motoko tried her best to keep from blushing. "Would you go out with me?" Ryusei scratched his head. "What was that?" Motoko decided she may as well get it over with. "W-will you go out with me?"

The room was silent.

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"So where would you like to go?" asked Ryusei. The two had been on the trolley for a good ten minutes before he could finally work up the nerve to talk to her. "I don't know. Why don't you pick?" Motoko said as she studied from a pocket dictionary. "That seems fair. So, Naru tells me you're shooting for Toudai as well. Is it because of this "Keitaro" I hear so much about?" Ryusei realized what he said and prepped himself for a beating. "Calm down, I don't intend to hurt you today." Motoko said calmly.

"That's a relief. Hey, I think this is our stop." Motoko put away her book and followed Ryusei out of the trolley.

"I think we should stop for lunch. Don't you agree?" Ryusei asked as he pointed to a fancy restaurant. Motoko nodded and followed him inside.

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The inside of the restaurant was much like any other. The tables were decorated with tall candles, there were famous works of art on the walls, everyone seemed to have plenty of money to throw around...maybe it wasn't like other restaurants.

"Sir, Madaam. May I help you?" asked the waiter.

Ryusei pulled out a couple of large bills and handed them to the little man. "We'd like a table, the best you've got." The man placed the bill into his pocket. "Right this way." Ryusei signaled Motoko to follow.

The two had managed to score a seat next to the lobster tank.

After they had ordered their meals, Ryusei attempted to strike up a conversation. "So, How have you been?" Motoko took a sip from her tea. "I have been fine. And you?" He tried to force a smile. "Not so good, but I'm sure you knew that." There was an akward silence for a while. "May I ask what your favorite book is?" he asked nervously. Motoko blushed. "I-I would rather not." Ryusei grinned goofily. "Come on, I'm just curious." Motoko looked down at the table. "Romance under the Sakura. That one is my favorite."

Ryusei blushed. "Really? You like my story?" Motoko looked embarassed, so Ryusei decided to change the subject. "I heard of a good movie we could go see after lunch. Would you like to go?" Motoko nodded. "Yes, I would like that." Another akward silence. But not for long.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaah! It is him! It's Ryusei Tanaka! He's in here girls!" yelled some random girl who had snuck into the restaurant. Ryusei grabbed Motoko by the hand and ran into the kitchen. "I didn't think anyone would recognize me. I had hoped that I could relax here." he said as he looked for the emergancy exit. "Wouldn't it just be easier to get your fan-attacks over with?" Motoko asked as she looked for the exit as well. "You'd think that, but no. We have to leave."

"He's in the kitchen! Follow him!" yelled the fangirl. Motoko and Ryusei ran to the back of the kitchen and through the emergency exit.

"Kitsune, Naru, you owe me one." Motoko said to herself.

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It had been a close call in the restaurant. So close that the two decided to eat at a beef-bowl restaurant. Ryusei waited in the corner of the restaurant while Motoko ordered.

"I'm so sorry about that, Motoko. I honestly thought no one would recognize me." Motoko continued to eat. "I hope that we can do this more often. I'm really enjoying hanging out with you." Motoko nearly choked on a pice of beef. "Would you please refrain from making me gag on my food." Ryusei smiled. "You like me, don't you?" Motoko nearly choked again. "What did I just say? I swear, if I had my sword." Ryusei laughed hysterically. "I'm just checking."

Motoko took a sip of the tea she ordered with her meal. "You know, we've been worried about you. All of us. I can understand how hard it can be to try your best and fail miserably. But you can't give up just because things get bad." Ryusei could only nod.

"You know, It's alright if you hold my hand. This is a date after all." Motoko said, blushing. Ryusei slowly grabbed hold of her hand and held it gently.

"So, are you ready for that movie?"

End Chapter 6


	7. Motoko's date part two

Disclaimer: Love Hina is a product of Ken Akamatsu, Satan had nothing to do with it.

---scene change

_Italicsthoughts_

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With the other girls off at school, Kitsune and Haruka were the only people left at Hinata-sou. And if that wasn't bad enough, they ran out of alcohol and cigarettes. "Harukaaaaa. When is everybody coming back?" Kitsune moaned. Haruka applied a nicotine patch and brushed her black, shoulder length hair. "It says "Nicotine Patch" but it's not the same as a real cigarette." "Those things are supposed to help you quit smoking, you silly." Kitsune retorted. Haruka removed the patch and stuck it to Kitsune's forehead. "No wonder I haven't killed you out of withdrawal."

"Hey! I'm back!" proclaimed a strange girl. "Where is everybody?" Kitsune waved the girl over to the kitchen. "So Sarah, when did you get back from camp?" Sarah is the youngest of all the Hinata residents, ranking at ten years old. She wears her blonde hair underneath a baseball cap in order to pull off the tomboy look. Haruka splashed some cold water on her face. "I don't understand how you managed to go to camp during the school year."

Sarah laughed and said something about "blackmail". Kitsune pulled the cap up and over Sarah's eyes. "You silly girl. Hey guess what?" Sarah decided to play along. "Okay, what?" "We have a new roommate. And it's a guy." Kitsune said as she sat down on the counter. Sarah didn't seem too pleased. "Great, we get rid of one nerd and gain another."

But that was just to keep the story together. Let's get back to what you folks came for.

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"You're taking me to see a romance? Alright, but nothing fresh. Understood." Motoko said as she reached for a sword she knew wasn't there. Ryusei simply payed for the tickets and grabbed hold of her hand again. "It's about to start, we should hurry." As the two rushed to get to the right place, Motoko couldn't help but feel happy.

_"He certainly has a strong grip. And he's so kind, I mean Keitaro was kind, but he was also too perverted for his own good. Ohmygod! I'm comparing the two of them! Can it be that I have a crush? Have I fallen for him? No! I can't let this man place his spell on me! I refuse to be in any kind of relationship with either of them!" _Motoko then realized that she was still holding his hand.

_"But, I just can't bring myself to let go. I know that if I do this, I'll be throwing all my experience with the sword away. After all, who would want to be with a violent tomboy? I just have to let him down easily."_

Ryusei and Motoko made it just in time to see the opening credits.

"Will this seat be okay?" Ryusei asked in his most gentlemanly tone. Motoko stifled a giggle. "I suppose." Motoko let go of his hand just long enough to get to her seat, but as she let go she felt a deep sadness coax its way throughout her entire body. _"Oh God. I must really be lovesick. It's alright Motoko, he'll take your hand again in just a second."_

But he didn't, he just sat down and started watching the movie. _"What is he doing? He's ignoring me? Fine I'll just take his hand myself."_ Motoko moved her hand closer and closer, but then pulled back. _"No! If I do that then he'll think I have feelings for him. Although, I was the one who told him it would be alright to hold hands. That's beside the point, he couldn't really be this dense, could he?"_

Motoko argued with herself for a whole hour and a half before she realized the movie was almost over.

_"Whaaaat! It's almost over and he still hasn't taken it yet! This is bull-crap! I have to make the move!" _Slowly, Motoko moved in for the kill. _"You can do this, I know you can! Suck it up! Go! Go! Go! You can..." _Motoko realized that his hand wasn't there, but instead it was around her shoulder, pulling her in closer and closer. _"What's he doing? Is he? He is! He's going to kiss me! Wait a minute! I'm not ready for this, I can't do it." _Motoko closed her eyes and accepted her fate, that she would be impregnated in a movie theater. Her body just couldn't bring itself to attack mode. _"I just can't!" _

Motoko opened her eyes to see that his hand was still around her, but her head was rested on his shoulder. "You looked cold. I hope this isn't too fresh of me, is it?" Ryusei whispered.

Motoko just snuggled up next to him. _"He didn't do it. I was hoping he would, I guess. But I'm glad he's not taking this too far. I guess he and Keitaro are a lot alike."_

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An hour passed before Kitsune, Haruka and Sarah finally found someone else to hang out with. Luckily, they brought valuable information to the table.

"I'll fold." proclaimed Sarah. "Yeah me too." muttered Kitsune. "So what did you have, Haruka?" The queen of the cigs smirked and revealed two pair of threes. "Noooo! How could I fall for your ruse!" Kitsune yelled as she stood up from her seat, ruffling her own hair. Sarah wasn't impresses either. "Yeah you cheated!" Haruka just smiled and tapped on the table. "Pay up, biznitches."

"Hey guys, sorry we're late!" yelled a familiar little foreign girl. "Shinobu and I had to go spy on Motoko and Ryusei." As soon as Kitsune heard this her eyes perked with interest. "You did? Well come on Su, spill your guts. What did you see?"

"They left the movie theater and Ryusei had his arm around her shoulder!" yelled Shinobu, who just couldn't wait to tell someone. Kitsune gasped. "Our little Motoko has finally found someone to make her happy?" Kitsune grinned devilishly as she choreographed to herself how their "after-dark" activities would go.

"Thwack!" Kitsune had just met the business end of Haruka's "Destroying Paper Fan". "I know what you were thinking, missy." Su and Shinobu giggled when they saw how much pain Kitsune was in. "And you two should know better than to spy on people. Shame on you girls." Su and Shinobu's guilt was clear on their face.

"I don't care who those two decide to date, even if it's each other! We are not going to interfere, understand!" The girls nodded in agreement. "Besides, I was worried that Motoko would never find a guy."

Sweatdrops all around.

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Ryusei and Motoko had been walking around deep in each other's embrace for nearly an hour before Ryusei realized what time it was. "5:37. The others should be back by now, do you want to head back?" Motoko placed her finger on his nose, playfully. "I think you can show me a little more fun than dinner and a movie." Ryusei placed his finger on her nose, playfully. "Well then, do you have a suggestion?"

End Chapter 7

Author's note: I can't believe I almost left out Sarah. Please review.


	8. Motoko's date part three

Disclaimer: Love Hina is not my creation. I would have to stab Akamatsu in the heart with the ancient bonesaber of Zumacalis. But my dagger isn't made of bone, so no dice.

Author's note: I can honestly say that I'm really enjoying this story arc. It kind of reminds me of the girlfriend I never had. sobs

---scene change

_Italicsthoughts_

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"We're back! How's everybody been?" asked Naru who entered alongside Mutsumi. Kitsune waved the two over to the card table. "You two are already 379 yen down the drain. Are you sure you can go through with this?" Haruka wagered an extra 100 yen. Kitsune and Sarah wagered an additional 150. "Whatcha got?" Kitsune and Sarah revealed a pair straights. Haruka only grinned and revealed a royal flush.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" both girls yelled at the top of their lungs. Naru poured herself a glass of water and sat next to Haruka. "Deal me in." Haruka didn't think twice.

"Ara, that reminds me. When do you think the other two will be getting back?" Naru wagered 50. "I don't know, Su and Shinobu saw them leave the movies earlier. What they're doing now, beats me." Kitsune aid plainly. Naru sweatdropped. "You know, normally you'd be making up some bull crap story about sexual conquest." Kitsune wagered another 25. "Well normally I'm not down 679 yen. Now Naru, whatcha got?"

"Royal Flush."

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"Can I open my eyes now?" Ryusei asked as he stumbled on what he assumed was a tree root. Motoko smiled and led him up a flight of stairs. "Alright, you can open them."

Ryusei was amazed at what he saw. Motoko had led him to the roof of an apartment complex, but that wasn't what amazed him. From the top of the building you could see the entire town bathed in the glow of the setting sun. "It's beautiful." he whispered. Motoko signaled him to sit next to her. The two smiled at each other then directed their attention to the view.

"You know, with all the I put into writing my stories, I had never found any free time to go out. I was always too busy trying to make sure that it was perfect, to make sure that anyone who picked up a copy wouldn't want to put it down." Motoko took hold of his hand. "I'm glad that you could show me what I've been missing, Motoko."

_"This is nice. I could get used to this, but I'm still so confused. If I go through with this my swordsmanship will suffer and I have Toudai to worry about, I don't know. _Motoko rested her head on his shoulder once again. _But until I make up my mind, this will have to do."_

Ryusei shifted his gaze to his date. _"I don't know if we can be happy, if we can be together. I don't know what the future holds for us." _Ryusei placed his arm around her. _"The least I can do is to make sure you enjoy every second. Motoko, I think I may be in love."_

They both knew that they had feelings for each other, but they decided it would be best if they waited for the other to confess these feelings before they went any further. In the end though, will their feelings stay the same? Will they meet someone else? Will circumstances split them apart?

I don't think that's important right now.

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"Three-of-a-kind! Lose it!" Naru roared ferociously. Kitsune removed her shirt. "I'll win that back, you know I will!"

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It was 8:00 before the two had made it to the steps of Hinata-sou, both had a wonderful time, but Motoko decided she needed to explain her situation. "Ryusei, I want you to know something." He halted his ascent in order to hear her out. "I had a wonderful time today, you were a complete gentleman and I thank you for that. But I don't know if this will work. If we were to continue like this, I would have to give up being a swordswoman and maybe even forget about Toudai, I would have to put my focus on you. I just, I don't know if I want to give all that up." Motoko began to sob.

"Motoko." Ryusei said as he pulled her in for a hug. "You shouldn't give up on your dreams, you have to fight for what you believe in. I couldn't ever come between you and your studies in the way of the sword or the scholar, but you can't just give up because things are hard."

Motoko pried herself loose and dried her eyes. "Does that mean that you'll be trying to get the Kokusho account again?" Motoko asked.

Ryusei nodded. "Yes. I refuse to give up on Kokusho. I just need to show them what they're missing." Motoko smiled and walked up the stairs to Hinata-sou. "I don't know what will happen between us, but I promise I haven't given up on the idea of us being together.Oh, and Ryusei, the others don't need to know the intimate details of our date." Ryusei laughed and followed her to the house. "You make it sound so dirty."

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"They're coming, they're coming!" shouted Su as she prepped a rocket launcher. "About time, Motoko missed her study session with me because of him." Naru complained. Kitsune shivered. "Can I please have my shirt back?" Naru plopped down on the couch. "Just go get another one." Kisune continued to shiver. "But, my rooms so far away. I'll freeze to death before then." Naru threw the shirt at her face. "Lazy bum."

"We're back."

Su fired the rocket right at Ryusei's face, thus launching him back down the steps of Hinata-sou. "That's for being so late!" Motoko sweatdropped. Kitsune decided to pump Motoko for information. "Sooooo? How big was he?" "Thwack!" Fan meets face. "What did I say?" Kitsune asked. Haruka plopped down on the couch next to Naru. "Did you have fun, Motoko." "I suppose." Motoko stated apathetically.

Right on cue, Shinobu and Mutsumi entered the room with Sarah. "Harukaaaa! You can't just take money from a little girl!" Sarah complained. "Well then, let's hope you can win it back tomorrow." Mutsumi giggled while Shinobu brought out some tea.

"Is it safe to come in?" asked Ryusei. Sarah immediately noticed a new voice. "Is this the new guy?" Ryusei walked up to the little girl. "Do I know you?" Sarah shook her head and stuck out her hand. "No you don't. My name is Sarah Mc'Dougal. And you are?" Ryusei reached his hand out to shake hers. "My name's Ryusei Tanaka." Sarah gasped. "You are? My papa reads your stories all the time, he says his favorite is "Final Hour". He actually thinks you may have gotten the inspiration from some ancient legend." Ryusei laughed. "No, It just came to me is all."

Motoko smiled at him from across the room. Kitsune noticed this and smirked devilishly. "Something happened, didn't it?" "Thwack! What did I just get through telling you?" Haruka fumed.

Motoko felt a little embarassed, but overall she felt a warm sense of happiness flow throughout her body. Maybe it could work, maybe.

End Chapter 8

Authors note: Whew, that was difficult. I couldn't decide on where their last destination would be. I was torn between a karaoke bar, an arcade, a temple or the building. Anyway, please review.


	9. Back in the saddle?

Disclaimer: Love Hina is not mine. That's that.

---Scene change

_Italicsthoughts_

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The next morning was a welcome change of pace. Ryusei had finally left his room after days of moping around. Of course, no one knew about what had happened the previous day. No one but Motoko and Ryusei.

After breakfast was served everyone just sat there eating, nobody said a word. They girls knew that if they said the wrong thing that they could drive Ryusei back into his mopey mood. Ryusei realized how uncomforterable everyone was, so he decided to break the akward silence.

"I'm going to do it. I'm going to get that account." he said firmly. The other girls just looked at him and went back to eating. Ryusei sweatdropped and asked the inevitable question. "Is something wrong?"

Naru was the first to respond. "You just locked yourself up for three days, you blew us all off, and now you act like nothing happened. Of course something's wrong." Motoko nodded solemnly in agreement. Shinobu looked down at her plate and poked around at her food. "We were all worried about you Tanaka-san. I hope you can understand."

Ryusei felt awful. He never realized that these girls cared so much for him, that anyone could for that matter. "Shinobu, I'm sorry that I made you worry, I'm sorry to all of you. I promise that I'll never do that ever again. Will you forgive me?"

Shinobu nodded slowly, followed by the others. Ryusei smiled and pulled a chart from out of nowhere. "Alright, here's my plan. In the event that Kokusho didn't accept me, I had put together a three-part plan. A plan that would be sure to land me the account. "Was part one of your plan to mope around in your room?" Kitsune asked bluntly. Ryusei laughed nervously. "Actually, it was." The girls sweatdropped in unison.

"But you see, by doing that I was preparing myself for step two. This step will recquire some time, but if I give 100 I'll have a new book written in no time." "You're going to write a new book!" Kitsune, Motoko and Shinobu said in unison. Ryusei nodded and pulled out a notepad and a pencil.

"I'm going to need to ask you girls some questions." Su raised her hand high in the air. "Yes, Su." "My favorite food is Bananas, I love to play "Neverwinter Nights", my shoe size is..." Sarah placed her hand over Su's mouth before she made a total fool of herself.

"Thank you, Sarah. Let's see now...Naru, which one of my books did you enjoy the most." Naru was silent. "Naaaaaruuuuu. Are you awake?" Naru snapped out of it and laughed nervously. "Well, to be honest, I haven't read any of your books." Ryusei filled something out and looked at Mutsumi. "And yours?" Mutsumi wasted no words. "I just love that "Guide to Watermelon Growth" book you wrote!" Ryusei sweatdropped and filled out something on the sheet.

"Su, how about you?" Su said something through a mouthful of food, but Ryusei couldn't hear a word of it. "Sarah?" Sarah shook her head. "I don't really like your work." Ryusei dropped his head to the table.

"Ahem! How about us?" asked Kitsune. Ryusei looked up and saw that Motoko, Shinobu and Kitsune had pulled up as close to him as they could. "Alright, how about Shinobu." Shinobu smiled blissfully. "My favorite is "Romance under the Sakura"." Ryusei jotted something on the paper. "And you, Kitsune?" Kitsune pulled up next to him and ran her finger up and down his chest. Needless to say, this made Ryusei very nervous, especially with Motoko in the same room. "I agree with Shinobu. I just love those kinds of stories, not to mention the men who write them." Ryusei blushed heavily as he wrote something else down, his hand shaking fiercely. As soon as Kitsune removed herself from Ryusei, he looked at Motoko. "I know which one." he said as he winked at her.

Ryusei got up from his seat and tore the notepad into pieces. "I guess I'll just write a romance." "What was the point of taking notes if you were just going to tear them to pieces?" naru asked as she served herself some more rice. "I always do that, It helps me to prepare for the writing process. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

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"I have no idea how to start it off!"

Ryusei had been hard at work for a couple of hours, working on the computer he borrowed from Su, when he realized he had a wicked case of writer's block.

"I haven't even gotten through one chapter and I'm already out of ideas! Aaaaargh!"

Ryusei decided to take a break from his work and just stretch out on his futon. As he lay there, he reminisced about his date with Motoko.

_"That was such a great day. I think that might have been my first date in ages...alright, my first date ever." _He closed his eyes and played the date back in his mind. _"I can't believe how soft her hands were, it was so smooth, like silk. I wonder though, she seemed defensive at first, maybe that was her first as well."_

Ryusei got up from the futon and got back to work. _"There's no time to reminisce, I've got work to do." _

Chapter 1

It was a cold day, a morbid day, a despicable day. The sun had been blocked by rainclouds early on in the day...

"Damn it to tell! This just won't work!" Ryusei yelled as he deleted what little he got done.

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Motoko decided to take her training out in the yard, after all it was a beautiful day to train. Motoko began her training much like any other day, with deep meditation. Motoko had been meditating under one of Hinata-sou's many trees. To any normal person it would seem that she was napping, Ryusei is of course a normal person. "How's it going?" Motoko removed her sword from its scabbard in one lightning fast motion, placing it a centimeter away from his neck. "I-I see that you're busy, so I'll just leave now." Ryusei whimpered. Motoko opened her eyes to see her "assailant" cowering in fear.

"Sorry about that." Motoko said as she put her sword away.

"Aren't you supposed to be working on that book of yours?" Motoko asked as she sliced the falling leaves into pieces. Ryusei laughed nervously. "Wow. You're pretty good." Ryusei noticed another sword over by the tree that Motoko had been meditating under.

"Hey, how about a sparring match?" he asked as he readied the sword. Motoko was silent as she cut the last of the leaves. "Motoko, a match?" Ryusei asked. "Fu fu fu fu fu. If you honestly think you can handle that sword, then by all means we'll fight."

Motoko leaped high into the air, preparing to bring the sword down with a magnificent force. Ryusei brought his sword up to block the oncoming attack. "Klang!" Sparks shot out as both swords collided with one another. Motoko merely smiled. "Not bad, let's try something a little tougher!"

Motoko launched herself off of Ryusei's sword and began to charge Ki into her sword. "Prepare yourself! God's Cry School technique, "Boulded Cutting Blade"!" as Motoko landed she swung her sword vertically, launching her ki along the ground and into Ryusei's direction.

"Well...shit!"

There was an explosion, followed immediately by Ryusei's body flying high into the air. Motoko sweatdropped. "This is all too familiar."

When Ryusei finally came back down to earth, Motoko had finished her morning training and began her studies for Toudai. "I hope you realize how foolish it is to challenge me." Motoko stated as she opened her english book. "I guess it was pretty stupid of me." Ryusei said as he scratched his head.

"You know, there are two reasons I came out here." Motoko paid no mind to him. "I have a bad case of writer's block and..." Motoko put her book down. "And?"

Ryusei blushed. "I wanted to hang out with you." Motoko sighed and closed her book. "You know, you're really pathetic." Motoko said jokingly. "Yeah, I know." Ryusei replied.

Ryusei sat next to her and closed his eyes. "Things have been pretty hectic lately, not just with Kokusho either." Motoko cracked open her book. "How so?" Ryusei sighed. "Well, before I came here I had been having a lot of trouble with crazed fans. They had been camping outside the my house, trailing me at my morning jog, asking for autographs during lunch, I even got someone's ear in the mail." Motoko flipped through a couple of pages as she patted him on the shoulder.

Ryusei continued his tale. "But that's not all, this one girl just wouldn't let up. She went through my garbage, tried to break into my house on countless occasions and she proposed to me 427 times." Motoko sweatdropped.

"But that's not what's bad. The reason I came here is because someone had broken into my house and destroyed everything I owned, leaving only a note in their wake. "I will have you!" I was so scared that I packed up and ran away, hoping that no body would find me. That's when I came to Hinata Onsen."

Ryusei looked up at the clouds with a look of whistfulness in his eyes. "I'm glad that you guys took me in. I don't know what I would have done if a fangirl had found me, brrrrrr." Motoko giggled and poked him in the ribs with her elbow.

"You don't need to worry about crazed fans during your stay here. Now how about another match?"

Ryusei sweatdropped.

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Later that day.

"I guess not even the hot springs can give me the inspiration I need."

Ryusei had decided to lounge in the hot springs in an attempt to conjure a plot for his new book, but all he could think about was how warm the water was. "I've tried everything! Why Muse, why hath thee forsaken me?"

After another hour of bathing he decided to get back to work, but something stood between him and work. Motoko had just entered the bath. "Hello. Is anyone in here?" Motoko asked.

"Occupied!" Ryusei shouted.

_"Whew. Almost had another incident on my hands. I don't think I could take another beating."_

"I thought you were going to work on that book of yours." Ryusei panicked and shielded himself. "Don't panic, I'm not going to hurt you. At least you made yourself noticed. Keitaro would try to sneak out, but that just complicated things for him."

Ryusei sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." Motoko tapped him on the shoulder. "Could you turn around, please?" Ryusei did as he was told. "Now stay there." Motoko said as she removed her towel.

"Dinner was good, don't you agree?" Ryusei asked. Motoko began to scrub herself. "Indeed." Ryusei realized that the bath might not have been the best place to strike up a conversation. "Shinobu's cooking seems to be getting even better." Motoko was silent.

Ryusei couldn't stand the silence, he just couldn't take it anymore. He knew he had to say something, but what?

"Ryusei, I'm afraid that you may never get started at this rate." Motoko said angrily. "If you can't even think of a beginning, then how do you suppose you'll finish it?" Ryusei was silent this time. "You need to buckle down and do some work."

Ryusei nodded to himself. "I guess you're right. I can't really impress anyone with a book full of empty pages." Motoko placed her hand on his shoulder. "Tell you what. If you work hard on this, I'll let you take me out again." Ryusei smiled and placed his hand on hers.

"Yay! Bath time!" Su shouted. "I guess it's time I break from my studies." said Naru. "Hey! Who's in here?" asked Kitsune.

It was too late to run, Kitsune had pointed them out. As Naru began to boil Ryusei decided now was the time to run.

"Dear Muse, If I live through this, give me the strength to start my story. If only to go out with her again."

"Crash! Smack! Kapow! Auuuuuuuugh!"

End Chapter 9

Author's note: I had some trouble with this chapter. I really wanted to have another onsen scene, but I wasn't sure if Ryusei and Motoko needed another dialogue. In the end, I just settled.


	10. Inspiration hits

Disclaimer: Love Hina...not mine.

Author's note: I really need to make my chapters longer. Maybe if I don't update every freaking day, that might help.

----scene change

_Italicsthoughts_

**Boldreading aloud**

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The next morning.

"Okay. I've had breakfast, the girls are out of the house, and I have my motivation. I can do this."

Ryusei slowly typed out what he assumed would be the beginning of his epic romance, but he seemed wary. "Let's see what I have so far."

**"Spring, the season of love, a time for lovers to be together, to express their feelings for one another, to hold each other with a tenderness rivaled by no other. So why am I spending my time alone? I have nobody to love, to hold, to embrace. It doesn't matter, I just drag people down. No one wants to be with me..."**

"No good. It feels a little too dark for my tastes."

Hesitantly, he began to type a new opening.

**"There she is, the girl of my dreams. I knew she would be here. She's always here, everyday at 3:00. Is today the day I confess my feelings?"**

"Ugh! Now this just makes the protagonist sound like a stalker. I'd be damned if anyone ever read this crap."

Ryusei rubbed his temples vigorously. "Come on brain! I know there's still at least a smidgen of creativity in there, please help me out here!" Ryusei just couldn't take his writer's block anymore, he had to do something about it, but what?

"If you won't help me then I'll just have to beat the inspiration out of you!" Ryusei yelled as he rammed his head into the wall. "Work damn it! Work!" The pummeling of his cerebellum continued until his head felt like a jackhammer had it's way with it.

"Well that was pointless." he whispered as he fell to his knees.

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Meanwhile, in the teahouse.

"How do you think it's going?" Kitsune asked. Haruka finished cleaning a teacup and set it in the cupboard. "I'm sure he's doing just fine. Now help me clean these, I'm expecting a busy day today." Kitsune shrugged and began cleaning a saucer.

"I've been thinking. Motoko seems to have warmed up to Ryusei faster than she did with Keitaro, why do you think that is?" Haruka started cleaning another teacup. "Haruka, are you listening?" Haruka looked up at Kitsune with a cocked eyebrow. "I told you not to worry about those two. Now get back to work."

Kitsune grabbed another saucer. "Do you think that he could replace Keitaro?" Haruka finished the teacup and grabbed another. "Haruka?" Kitsune seemed very worried. Haruka remained silent. "He could, you know. We might very well forget all about Keitaro. Do you think that could ever happen?"

Haruka slammed her free hand down on the counter in anger. "What's your problem? Is prying into other people's lives all you can do?"

Haruka quickly realized what she had done and began to clean again. "I'm sorry. I've just been really stressed lately." Kitsune patted Haruka on the back. "It's alright, now about my question?"

Haruka sighed. "I honestly don't think that anyone could ever replace Keitaro, he's much too sweet for us to just forget about." Kitsune giggled. "You know, if you weren't his aunt, I'd suspect that you had feelings for him."

"Thwack!"

"Now get back to work."

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Meanwhile, at Toudai.

_"I really shouldn't be concerned with those two. If they want to be all lovey-dovey with each other that's fine with me. Besides, he isn't really that attractive anyway." _

Naru had been lost in thought like this for half of the class.

"Ms. Narusegawa? Would you mind answering the question?" asked the short portly proffesor.

Naru laughed nervously. "What was the question?"

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Back to Ryusei.

"Work...damn you...work." Ryusei panted. He had been assaulting his brain for nearly an hour before he finally gave up on the idea. "Maybe I never could write, maybe the universe has been playing a big prank on me, waiting until I feel confident in my skills and then taking them away from me. Is this the true nature of my life? To be lifted up and then dropped to my knees?"

Ryusei removed his head from the dresser drawer he had been crushing his skull in and dusted himself off. "Alright, enough melodramatics. It's time to work." He applied a bandage to his forehead and began typing.

**"My name is Raikoh Kamichi and I have spent my entire life without knowing love, not even from my parents, but that's about to change. I have decided to go on a quest, a quest to find the perfect woman. A woman who would have someone as quirky as me."**

"Hey, this isn't half bad. I could use this."

Before he had realized it, Ryusei had assembled three chapters by late noon.

"I-I can't believe it. I'm actually doing great with this. This could very well be my next big hit." Ryusei noticed the clock on his computer read 6:30. "Alright, it's time to eat. I sure could use a good meal."

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As he approached the dining room Ryusei noticed the various sake bottles left over by Kitsune, not to mention countless mounds of banana peels. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ryusei! It's time to eat!" shouted Su. "I'm coming!" he replied as he threw back some of the leftover sake.

Shinobu had taken the honor of preparing grilled eel and suchi so appetizing that Ryusei's stomach nearly flew out of his stomach just to get ahold of it. "This looks delicious. You did all this, Shinobu?" Shinobu nodded and served him a plateful.

"So Naru, how are your studies going?" Ryusei asked as he took his seat. Naru payed no attention to him. Mutsumi served herself some more sushi. "She's just angry because she got in trouble for daydreaming in class." Naru shook her violently. "I told you not to say anything!"

"It's alright, I'll just change the subject. I managed to get three chapters completed today. Isn't that great?" Kitsune threw back another sake. "Congrashulashuns, I knew joo could do it." she said drunkenly. Motoko smiled behind her algebra book.

"That's awesome, can we see it?" Su asked with a look of general interest.

"I can print out a couple of copies, I guess. By the way, has anyone noticed how red the walls look?" The girls looked around in confusion. "What are you talking about?" asked Naru. "Oh nothing, I just think I might need an aspirin is all." Ryusei said as he drifted back into conciousness.

The remainder of the meal continued in it's usual manner.

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_"He actually did it. Three whole chapters, that's good for anyone. I guess now I have to keep my promise now. I wonder where he'll take me this time."_

Motoko had been studying on the roof of Hinata-sou, but sh was too distracted to study, She couldn't afford to let anyone see that though. If they saw her like this the accusations would come flying out of the walls. "It's no use trying to study now, I may as well turn in."

"You don't need to go to bed yet, do you?" asked Ryusei. Motoko was startled, but she quickly regained her composure. "Quit sneaking up on me like that. I swear you're like a ninja." Ryusei laughed and sat next to her. "Super Shinobi Ryusei. Has a nice ring to it." Motoko smiled and put her book away.

"So where will you be taking me on our date?"

Ryusei stroked his chin, which caused Motoko to giggle. "I don't think dinner and a movie would suffice this time. How about I take you dancing?" Motoko turned blue in the face. "Are you alright?" Motoko was silent. Ryusei pulled her in closer. "It's alright. I can't dance either, so I guess that's out of the question."

"How about we go up to Kyoto?"

Motoko patted him on the back. "Alright, it's a date?" Ryusei looked up into the sky and whistled a snappy tune. "Saturday would be a good day, how about Saturday." Motoko stood up and stretched her arms high into the air. "Saturday it is then."

As Motoko headed back to her room Ryusei felt as if, by some kind of uncanny luck, he had finally found a place where he truly belonged. Like it was fate that he came to Hinata-sou, but what about Keitaro?

Just what is our hero up to now?"

End Chapter 10


End file.
